Knock Out's Family
by Agent Frostbite
Summary: Knock Out has never really had a proper family. That kind of thing wasn't really allowed in the Decepticons. A risky decision gives him a chance at one, but he'll have to stick with it for this to work. Humanformer AU.


Knock Out has no idea when it happened. He doesn't even know why, but he suspects that it's Primus either punishing him or giving him a second chance. Or both. He left the Decepticons and placed his life, his future, in the hands of a 16 year old fleshling - as Megsy's oh so creative term for them was - with barely a clue who she was or what she wanted or why him.

She's kind and smart and funny, but more than that, she _knows_ , and it's knowing that really persuaded him to leave in the first place. And Laserbeak is _barely_ tolerable as usual, but he's not siccing his boss or his boss's pet or the terror twins of the 'Cons on him, so he's acceptable. Besides, Knock Out has nowhere else to go because no-one else will trust him, and he doesn't really know why Nikki did it and he doesn't really care (He does; he _just_ refuses to admit it).

The only real problem turns out to be the sheer number of crazy people, headed up by the archer, Tony Stark, and the really quick blur (That he hasn't seen much of and doesn't think is American), who are world class pranksters. Well, the Tower is filled with pranksters, but those three usually have really good pranks and they do them really often. And there's just _so many people_ and he doesn't do very well in a group setting, so he just sticks with Nikki, and she's totally fine with that and she's _understanding_ , and he knows he made the right call.

It's quiet and easy for a bit, and he learns the ropes and how to be a hero and that the paint job doesn't matter _that_ much. Then Ravage shows up, and oh Primus, Nikki wants to keep him because he has nowhere else to go and the 'Cons certainly aren't coming for him (If they were, they'd have saved him from MECH a long time ago), so he sits and grins and bears it because she's so compasionate and he's her stray too, so he doesn't get too much room to complain.

And Ravage is bearable as well; he doesn't pick on Knock Out any more than he picks on everyone else (Including Nikki, which makes no sense to Knock Out, but then Ravage has never made any sense to Knock Out, so he ignores it) and makes snide remarks and his voice almost always drips with sarcasm.

Then Nikki takes a hit for the cybercat, and all of the sudden, everyone is nervous because Jemma hasn't come out in over an hour and Ravage is pacing and saying it's all his fault, Laserbeak is losing his cool, and now Knock Out - who never considered himself to be a leader in the first place - has to play nanny _and_ leader to two freaked out Minicons (Stark and Rogers can deal with their own team and their own team can deal with them).

She comes out of it fine, and she's bedridden for a week, and Knock Out welcomes the whining while pretending it bothers him (He's not quite ready to completely give up the "Don't care" persona yet, but Nikki can tell that he's not really bothered) while Ravage _apologizes_ (After which, Laserbeak declares that Armageddon has started and Ravage almost bites him while Knock Out facepalms and Nikki laughs) and Laserbeak gets uber protective of her. The other Avengers do their unique things, and Nikki has never smiled so much in her life (That he's seen) because she knows she's loved.

For a while, it's the three of them against the world, and Ravage starts to smooth out; he's not as snippity and he genuinely smiles and he does get worried when one of them is in trouble and doesn't bother hiding it. The whole team (Because they're all Avengers, officially or not) gets closer together and they do stupid stuff like field trips and road trips and outings, and Knock Out hates the human holoform at first (Why can't he be in normal form? "Because the architecture wasn't built for you."), but he gets used to it, and they're all one big, happy, dysfunctional family and he hasn't had a _real_ family for as long as he can remember, so the holo is a small inconvenience compared to what he gets in return.

Then Soundwave and the terror twins show up, and they have nowhere else to go either, so bleeing heart ice queen Nikki (Which he did actually call her during the small argument that happened) lets them in and _bang_! The team gets bigger. Knock Out doesn't like working with the spymaster, but then again, he's a stray too, so he doesn't get a lot of room to argue. The Minicons immediately hit it off again and Soundwave seems genuinely happy and no-one's been almost killed (Yet), so Knock Out puts up with it because this is Nikki's family, and it is how she wants it to be. Because they all owe her, and if a small inconvenience for them means the world to her, then she gets whatever the Pit she wants.

Knock Out, meanwhile, is still _freaking out_ because how'd he go from taking care of one person to him to three people, and now there's _four_ Minicons and Nikki and maybe Soundwave (Because he's the medic and he has to take care of the whole team) and a few of the Avengers that he's gotten close to or at least understands. But he works through the freak out because Nikki wants so badly for this to work and he _at least_ owes it to her to try to make it work.

And as usual, they all get closer, and Knock Out doesn't know when it happens, but they become a _true_ team, knowing each other's game plans and strategies, strengths and weaknesses, how the others fight and what they're capable of and when they need help (Especially when they need help). He and Soundwave get closer because both of them have their own people to watch over (It's only coincedental that they both share Laserbeak and Ravage, and to some extent, Nikki) and it's tough sometimes but worth it. They're family, and that means they stick together, no matter what.

They end up with a sniper on their team, making Nikki one of two humans on the Strike Team, right up until Marcus turns out to be Megatron. Soundwave has no idea how to process it while Ravage and Laserbeak get defensive and almost shoot the guy, and Frenzy and Rumble stay behind Soundwave and wait for a cue from him. Knock Out doesn't really react in any major way because Marcus saved lives at the risk of his own and took bullets for Nikki, but Megatron is a vicious, Energon-thirsty warlord, and he doesn't really know which of them the guy standing in front of Nikki and asking for forgiveness truly is.

And true to style, Nikki gives him a chance, so Knock Out does too. Eventually, he becomes part of the family, and since he uses his human holo, like, 95% of the time, it does get hard sometimes to call him by his real name and not his alias, and Knock Out finally decides that he can be trusted. Laserbeak comes around just after Knock Out does, and everyone else on the Strike Team does come to accept Megatron as part of them. After all, he _is_ a stray and they've all done awful things and Nikki's team is basically made up of misfits with nowhere else to go and nobody else to trust them.

Then Ripclaw (blue green Predacon femme with an attitude and a temper) gets rescued from a MECH compound (Which Nikki did tear apart and blow up), Knock Out isn't fazed at all because he knows how this is gonna go and he knows there isn't anything anyone can do to stop it. She's shaken and angry at MECH, and she's sure she's hallucinating when Nikki says she's more than welcome to stay.

She does look around at the group and come up with every possible reason why she shouldn't stay (All of which are shot down via examples or explanations, i.e.: 'Things get destroyed when I'm [Ripclaw] around.' 'Things get destroyed when the Hulk is around, and we haven't kicked Banner out.'), but ends up giving up and joining.

When they actually start working with the Autobots, the 'Bots doen't know what to make of them. Frenzy gets defensive, Rumble gets quiet, Soundwave shuts himself off to everyone but their little (And big) dysfunctional family, Megatron kinda hides, Laserbeak defends his brothers, and Ravage just sticks with Nikki. Nikki, as usual, is momma bear, and when someone goes after her team, they regret it in the worst way, and Knock Out? Knock Out doesn't give a slag what they think of him. He knows who he is and what he's worth and who he's playing for, and if they can't accept that, then that's their problem.

Ironhide finds out the hard way that messing with one equals retaliation from all, and he just can't handle the swarm of pranks and inconveniences and things going wrong that follow him around like a baby chick. Nikki chews him out for almost an hour straight while Optimus looks on and tries to help (Nikki doesn't let him and has a few choice comments for the red and blue semi that shut him up right away), till Knock Out's sure all Ironhide will hear in his processor for the next _day_ at least is Nikki's voice or scolding.

Moonracer just accepts them and is more than happy to welcome them into her spark (Bless her soul, the femme _has_ to be an _actual_ angel), and she quickly becomes part of their family till she ends up on the Strike Team (Again, nobody really knows when it happened and nobody really cares). Knock Out's so glad she just accepts them and him and what he chose that he nearly dances across his room the first night she tells him that she doesn't care who he used to be because that isn't who he is now.

The rest of the team just smiles knowingly and slyly when they see the two begin to flirt and _Primus_ , she's still beautiful and his spark skips every time she laughs or flirts with him or defends him. He doesn't have to worry about the others accepting her should he ever be brave enough to let her know that his spark skips when she shows up because they already do, and he doesn't know when "I" became "We," and he doesn't care beacuse it's so beautiful amd it's _home_ and he loves it.


End file.
